Recently released mobile internet usage data from the Middle East raises the possibility that Apple's ( AAPL) iPhone is being replaced for the key online browsing activity by the company's iPad. If this pattern holds beyond Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, it will have a significant negative impact on Apple's profitability.

With iPhone sales already under Android pressure, loss of a key activity revolutionized by the device further weakens its market position. The much expected iPad 3, meanwhile, is being accompanied by rumors of price cuts (and reductions in profit margins), so picking up some of the iPhone's market will not necessarily translate into similar profitability.

It should also be noted that the data specifically relates to users in the Middle East. Expectations of Apple's performance in the non-Western markets, particularly (but not only) in China, has been a key factor in the stock's pricing in recent months, and trouble in these markets will have a magnified impact on share prices.

The data from the Middle East was released by business and finance website nuqudy.com, which analyzed devices used by the region's users for mobile internet. These data show 75% of Arab mobile internet users access the site using Apple products, but also showcase a marked shift from the iPhone to the iPad.

Measuring actual use by its Middle Eastern audience base over the past 5.5 months, Nuqudy reported that iPad usage rose from 42% to 58% of users (growth of 38%).

In the same period of time, Apple's iPhone saw its market share steadily dwindle from a high of 34% of all users in September 2011, to a low of 15.51% in January 2012 (a drop of 49%).

Use of legacy iPods for internet browsing dropped to just 0.33% of total users.

Apple's total market share remained relatively steady throughout the period, accounting for three quarters of Arab mobile internet surfers. A key competitor, Samsung, has not seen significant results despite massive advertising and customer interest being seen in the GCC. Use of all Samsung products combined dropped from 11% to 8% of total users in the same period.

Looks that $365 was the ceiling... a 10% correction will get us to $328. But a 20% correction which is what I think is coming will take CRAPple to $292. If it prints anything below $292, then run for your lives....

Yeah, that's the ticket. You made a killing by shorting it from $7.50 all the way "down" to $500.

Your choice of screen name is quite telling.

Wikipedia's description of Sylvester:

Sylvester shows a lot of pride in himself, and never gives up. Despite (or perhaps because of) his pride and persistence, Sylvester is, with rare exceptions, placed squarely on the "loser" side of the Looney Tunes winner/loser hierarchy.

Wikipedia:Sylvester shows a lot of pride in himself, and never gives up. Despite (or perhaps because of) his pride and persistence, Sylvester is, with rare exceptions, placed squarely on the "loser" side of the Looney Tunes winner/loser hierarchy.

The company, which has restored its damaged reputation since the launch of its first Windows Phone devices last year, has produced some fabulous cameraphones down the years, so we're excited to learn the full details next week.

Unfortunately, this new interface only applies to standard documents; spreadsheets still use the mobile web interface inside of the app. Hopefully El Goog is working on an update to improve that interface, as well. Oh, and while we're making feature requests, offline editing would be nice.

Still, this is definitely a pretty major step forward for Docs' mobile app, so hit the widget below to grab it.

The Google Docs app for Android has received a substantial update today, adding some significant new features which to bring the phone and tablet app in line with the full desktop version.

First up is collaborative editing, which allows multiple people to work on the same document in real time -- this has long been possible on the desktop, but has been lacking in the mobile app. And it's also possible to set document permissions and invite others in your address book to work on a document alongside you.

In addition, rich text controls are included for documents, and pinch-to-zoom now fully functional too, making possible to manipulate text, undo and redo just like in the desktop version. Unfortunately these new features only work in documents, not spreadsheets, but regardless, it's a big step forward for the mobile version of Docs.

We've got Android Market links, and an official introductory video, after the jump.